


Carnivorous

by wellthatjusthappend



Series: Story Requests [34]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Dick is a cop investigating things, Jason is his current interest, M/M, Story request, Tim is a beast that haunts Gotham, Tumblr Prompt, carnivorous au, no one is quite sure what kind of interest that is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:21:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23143825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wellthatjusthappend/pseuds/wellthatjusthappend
Summary: For almost as long as Jason could remember, he’d heard stories about the ‘beast’ in Gotham.He’d never imagined that he might have caught its special interest.
Relationships: Tim Drake/Jason Todd
Series: Story Requests [34]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1373494
Comments: 32
Kudos: 222





	Carnivorous

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: _Here a request: Tim is a monster or a carnivorous creature but it seems human. (And Tim is in love with Jason. / Or Jason doesn't know that her boyfriend wants to eat him almost all the time.) Extra points if it is based mostly on the canon and is with angst. [I appreciate it if you decide to write it. You are one of the best writers I have ever met. So thanks even if you don't write it.]_
> 
> ~~Oh drat, forgot about the mostly canon part of this one… it’s definitely an au.~~  
>  Hope you enjoy this one!

“I need a favor,” Dick had said earnestly. 

Jason scowled as he led the way into the dark caves under Gotham. He should know by now that favors with Dick never lead anywhere good. 

For almost as long as Jason could remember, he’d heard stories about the ‘beast’ in Gotham. Most of them bordered on fantastical, a tale to scare children into behaving and not running around at night. ‘If you’re bad,’ they’d say, ‘the beast will get you.’ Jason wasn’t sure if that was the causation or if it was just people being stupid, but criminals did tend to disappear in the night with alarming frequency. 

One thing was for certain: there was something lurking in Gotham. The mangled half eaten carcass periodically found around the city wouldn’t have it any other way. Over the years, Jason himself had stumbled onto a few… nests, for lack of a better word. 

Hence Dick’s favor. 

“I don’t get why the GCPD is even wants to stick its nose into this,” Jason grumbled as he led his childhood-friend-now-police-officer through the dark. 

“People are dying and going missing,” Dick said firmly, “That makes it police business.” 

“Shouldn’t you just be glad someone else is doing your job?” Jason grumbled. 

“Jason,” Dick chided. 

“Whatever,” Jason wrinkled his nose, “I just don’t see why they want to do something about it now after all these years.”

“We just never had the man power before,” Dick said defensively. 

“Admit it, you pissed off the higher ups by not being bribable and now they want a convenient way to get rid of you,” Jason grumbled. 

“Well, maybe,” Admitted Dick, “But it is important. If it’s an animal it really needs to be put down, if it’s some deranged serial killer we need to know that too. Either way, someone should have investigated long before this.”

“Hah,” Jason said humorlessly as they stepped into the cave proper, “Pretty sure humans can’t do this.”

Beside him, Dick caught his breath. Jason could relate, even after years of occasionally finding nests, the heaps of mangled bones of humans and animals alike was always chilling to look at. Against the walls there were great claw marks several inches deep. 

“Holly shit,” Dick said, pulling out his camera and notebook and immediately starting to catalogue everything. 

Jason left him to it. 

It might be a little morbid, but Jason had always sort of liked the nests. He probably had a death wish or something, but he often came down here just for some peace and quiet. When he was little, he’d been scared stiff that the beast might come back while he was there. Never stopped him from coming though: despite all the stories, he’d never found any bones of children down here. Not to mention the fact that no one was going to chase after him here. In many ways, the caves were the safest place he could have slept in Gotham. Plus, there were often valuables dropped among the bones that often made the difference between starving to death and living another day. 

This cave was one of the first nests he’d found, and also probably the oldest. If Dick was looking for clues about the origin of this thing, it was probably the best place to start. 

An unfamiliar shape caught his eye, and Jason cautiously made his way over to a new addition to the nest. It looked like a whale carcass, mostly devoured, likely caught and eaten elsewhere given the lack of blood, but fresh enough that it didn’t stink. 

It must have been brought there in the last couple hours.

Jason’s heart rate skyrocketed as he quickly scanned his surroundings.

The beast could still be there.

“Dick, we need to go,” he hissed. 

“But we just got here!” protested Dick as Jason grabbed his wrist and dragged him towards the exit. 

“Do you want to be eaten? You said you’d follow my lead-”

They both froze as they heard something move in the darkness. Dick stared at him wide eyed in sudden understanding.

They should make a break for it, Jason decided. He didn’t know exactly how big the beast was, but judging by the size of some of its prey it should at least have trouble making its way through some of the smaller tunnels-

“Jason, what are you doing here? I thought you weren’t coming until next week?” said a voice to his right. 

Jason’s heart leaped into his throat as he whirled to see pale glowing eyes- no, it was just Tim. 

“Jesus, Tim, you about gave me a heart attack,” breathed Jason closing his eyes for a moment, “Wait, no we need to get out of here, the beast-”

“Isn’t here,” Tim said with a confidence that Jason couldn’t help but believe, “But by all means, let’s move to the outer caves.”

“Jay? Who’s this?” Dick asked, peering around Jason. 

“You brought someone with you,” Tim said quietly, reproachful. 

“He bullied me into it,” Jason grumbled, relaxing a bit as they left the cave propper, “Dick, this is Tim, the guy I mentioned earlier who’s even more of an expert about the beast than I am. Tim, this is Dick, he’s an officer on the GCPD who’s been tasked with following up on some recent disappearances that have been linked to the beast.”

“GCPD?” Tim said softly, his gaze sharpening. 

“Yup,” Dick said with a dazzling smile, as he recovered from his nerves, extending his hand, “Glad we can finally meet, it’s not just anyone who can get Jason to gush.” 

“I do not gush,” grumbled Jason feeling heat rise to his cheeks. He caught Tim’s eyes lingering on the color and felt even more embarrassed. Stupid Dick. 

He’d met Tim years back when he’d been sleeping in one of these very caves. Tim apparently was an enthusiastic researcher or something. He knew a lot about the caves and even more about the beast. He was the only person Jason had met who didn’t seem at all afraid. Considering he’d been wandering around these caves for years and was still alive meant that he probably knew what he was talking about. 

Jason also suspected Tim might have a mild crush on him and was possibly a little bit of a stalker. He seemed positively fixated on Jason sometimes, and seemed to turn up wherever Jason was with a frequency that couldn’t be accidental. Despite the uncanny mannerisms he sometimes had, Jason didn’t feel like he was ever in danger around Tim, even if he did sometimes eye Jason’s body with a hunger that almost looked literal. 

“Whoa! You’re stronger than you look!” Dick blinked as they shook hands, “Younger than I was expecting too.”

“So I’ve been told,” Tim said with a private smile. 

“So what do you say? What to help Jay and I find this beast?” asked Dick. 

Tim looked Dick over and then leveled a considering look Jason’s way.

“It would be my pleasure.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Give me all the creepy Tim please and thank you. 
> 
> If you've ever wanted to send a story request, feel free! Besides AO3, I'm on [Tumblr](https://wellthatjusthappend.tumblr.com/mywriting),[DA](https://www.deviantart.com/wellthatjusthappened), and Discord. Same username. 
> 
> If you want a continuation of a story you see here, you can always send another prompt. Not sure how to do so? Check my [FQA](https://wellthatjusthappend.tumblr.com/fqa).


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